In the last two weeks, two of Virginia’s largest generation providers announced new RFPs for clean energy resources. On April 29, Dominion Energy announced its latest solar/storage/onshore wind RFPs. Dominion is seeking up to 1,000 MW of utility-scale solar or onshore wind and up to 100 MW of battery storage resources. Dominion is also seeking up to 175 MW of smaller-scale distributed resources of 3 MW or smaller. Finally, the utility requests bids for 8 MW of distributed solar resources to support its community solar program. All three RFP documents are available here. Notices of intent to bid on Dominion’s RFPs are due on or before May 20.
Virginia’s two largest investor-owned electric utilities, Dominion and Appalachian Power Company, are required to publish RFPs annually pursuant to the Virginia Clean Economy Act (“VCEA”). Virginia Code Section 56-585.5 D 3 provides the requirements for the required annual solicitations. Among other factors, the utilities may consider “the benefits to the Commonwealth that are associated with particular projects, including regional economic development” and “the environmental impacts of particular resources, including impacts on air quality within the Commonwealth and the carbon intensity of the utility’s generation portfolio.” The new resources selected through this RFP may be used to assist Dominion in complying with the utility’s RPS target.
Also on April 29, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (“ODEC”) published an RFP seeking up to 400 MW of new solar resources. ODEC is requesting projects between 5 MW and 200 MW in size. ODEC is also inviting proposals that include associated battery storage. ODEC provides wholesale power to eleven member-owned electric cooperatives. The electric cooperatives served by ODEC provide power to approximately 1.2 million customers in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Unlike Dominion, ODEC and Virginia’s electric cooperatives are not subject to Virginia’s RPS or the VCEA’s renewable energy procurement targets. Proposals responding to ODEC’s RFP are due on April 29.
Please contact attorneys Will Reisinger or Matt Gooch should you have any questions about these RFPs. ReisingerGooch PLC provides regulatory counsel and project development assistance to clean energy businesses operating in Virginia.